How do you ensure your SOPs are clear, concise, and user-friendly?

Considering the technical ability of your audience can be tricky, a seasoned scientist who has been working in your company for 3 years + is going to be far more aware of the industry and technical terms than someone who has just finished their university degree. But similarly, you don't want to avoid the correct terminology. Best practice would be to include a glossary of terms as an annex to your SOP. Ensure you also ask the newest staff members who will be most dependent on these SOPs for feedback about which terms they don't understand.

To ensure SOPs are clear, concise, and user-friendly, follow these steps: Use straightforward, simple language and avoid jargon. Structure the SOP with a clear title, purpose, and scope. Break content into well-organized sections with headings, bullet points, and numbered steps for easy navigation. Incorporate visual aids like flowcharts and diagrams to simplify complex processes. Maintain consistency in formatting and terminology. Test the SOP with a sample group of users to identify any ambiguities or difficulties. Collect and incorporate feedback for continuous improvement. Regularly review and update the SOP to keep it relevant and effective.

List all roles and responsibilities for those roles; ensuring appropriate leverage is given to those roles to complete that activity. Leverage means power to make sure the role can get and complete the activity; money, power, or merit incentive. You can't expect a role to just have everything they need. To help describe scenarios, I prefer to do an IF/THEN chart, but that's not necessarily feasible for all SOPs. VERY IMPORTANT: The SOP is a living document - go back to ensure you get feedback and tailor it based on WISDOM (aka experiences). You NEED to experiment with it - nothing is perfect.

A logical structure should be applied to both the document and the broader organisation of your SOPs. To ensure that the user understands SOP through the logical flow of training, I'd recommend addressing the topics of SOPs first, by listing in your SOP register the titles of the SOPs and the interdependencies between SOPs. Then organise them from the most interdepended on SOPs to the least within a single topic. Only then do you need to look within the document. Start with the background content, which should form part of your template. Then list the requirements of the SOP, whether that's interdependencies on other SOPs or tools required to undertake the SOP. Followed by your methodology and auxiliary information required to clarify.

Clearly defining the purpose and scope is one of the most important aspects in writing an SOP. This is the scaffolding for the remainder of your document. Providing precise instructions and clear references to supporting documents will help in making your SOP easy to follow. Visual aids such as diagrams and flowcharts can help convey concepts or information that is difficult to fully explain through text. The most important aspect in writing an SOP is to consult your end user and get feedback to have more meaningful instructions within your document.